Remembrance
by Nagasha
Summary: Turbo had taken much from the citizens of Sugar Rush, not just Vanellope. Their rightful ruler, their hearts and minds... and their memories, not once but several times in an attempt to override their loyalty to their true leader. But now those forgotten times are coming into the light.


**Wow, this is long, ain't it? I honestly didn't expect it to be this big, maybe about half this size at most? Definitely not over 12,000 words.**

**This is a continuation of Recoded Memories, although you don't have to read that one to read this one. All you have to know is that he erased the racers memories any time they felt sympathy for Vanellope or tried to help her, as well as when they came to him with simple complaints about day to day life.**

**I'm supposed to put a disclamer here, but I think I've written enough words already, so enjoy:**

Vanellope surveyed her subjects, trying her best not to cry as all her memories came, unbidden, to the forefront of her mind. It was both heartbreaking and heartwarming, to realize what Turbo had done. They had all lost so much because of Turbo, not just her.

"Look, all of you. Stop your bellyaching." Her distinctly un-regal tone caused all of them to raise their heads, and a few of them to even stop crying. "Yeah, you guys did some pretty nasty stuff to me. But it wasn't your fault. It was King Candy's."

Vanellope put a hand up, to stop any protests. "I know that's a hard candy for you to swallow, what with the way he reprogrammed you, but can any of you deny it?" There was silence as they all tried to reason it out, always coming to the same answer.

She reminded herself not to blame any of them for it; they couldn't help the way they were programmed. "Right, I thought so." She didn't have much time before the arcade

Vanellope walked forward towards Gloyd, a solitary memory blooming above all the ones of hate and despair. She gently touched his arm, feeling him stiffen as blue pixels reached from her arm to his, and then-

_-She sat, all alone in a field of gumdrops, listening to the racers. From what she heard, it was some sort of holiday for the players, and they were joking about what their players were wearing. Vanellope wished she could have seen them, been played by a fairy or a ballerina or an army man. _

_She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't realize someone was coming until… "BOO!" Vanellope glitched through the gumdrop to the ground next to it, cheeks burning from the rambunctious laughter coming from behind her. She stood up and turned around to see Gloyd, his giant pumpkin hat making it obvious despite the skull mask he wore. Vanellope glitched in irritation. "Oh, yeah. Make fun of the glitch, how original? How long did that take to make up?"_

_Gloyd stopped laughing, taking off his mask to look at her in confusion. "What are you talking about? It was just a little scare, nothing that bad."_

"'_Just a little scare', huh?" Vanellope mocked. "Riiight. So why aren't you scaring your friends, then? Why deal with the mistake?"_

_Gloyd shrugged. "I'm doing it to everybody. I just saw you first."_

_Vanellope rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. So, why're you doing this anyway?" Did all the candy go to this guy's brain?_

"_Why am I- It's Halloween!" Gloyd exclaimed, clearly shocked that anybody would even ask. Vanellope rolled her eyes. "You're talking like I know what that means, Pumpkinhead."_

"_But… but…" Gloyd was as white as a sheet, the orange on his cheeks even more noticeable. "How can you not know about _Halloween?_ It's the best thing ever!"_

_Vanellope was then treated to an hour long spiel about costumes, haunted houses, the HalloweenTown game, pumpkins, candy and all the other things that came with October 31__st__. She would have glitched away by now, but this was the longest she had been around one of the racers without them attacking her physically and emotionally. Gloyd may have going on about pumpkins, but he was treating her as a person, as if she wasn't a glitch, as if… she belonged._

"_So, if you're so crazy about this Halloween thing, why don't you ask King Candy if he'd put on a big celebration for it next year?" Vanellope asked. Gloyd looked shocked, as if he expected her not to listen… okay; she wasn't _really _listening, but she listened enough to know there was a lot of candy in it, and it went to kids. That was enough, for Sugar Rush standards._

"_I… do you think the king would listen?" Gloyd was bouncing up and down so fast he almost looked like_ he_ was glitching. Vanellope shrugged. "I'd give it a shot, what's the worst that could happen? He'd take away the train?"_

_Gloyd's grin was almost like a Jack-o-Lantern. "You're right! Thank you Vanellope!" He bounded over and hugged her, so tightly that she thought she would burst into pixels, then letting her go before she knew what hit her.-_

_-Thirty minutes later, and the memory was wiped from the both of them.-_

"Gloyd, I'm putting you in charge of our Halloween celebration this year. We'll make sure to reinstate the train so you can visit your friend Jack for advice." She watched as a light came into his eyes, a sudden remembrance shining through as she moved on to the next person.

"Crumbelina." The girl stood ramrod straight, trying not to show her fear. "Hey, easy. Got your fashion pants in a twist?" Vanellope touched the girl's shoulder, and said-

_-"Are you seriously going around wearing _that?_" Vanellope looked up, annoyed. Crumbelina was sitting in her kart with her arms crossed, looking at Vanellope like she was some dirt on her prim and polished shoe. Vanellope stood up defensively. "What's it to you? Don't you have a kart to clean?"_

"_Don't you have any better clothes than those?" Crumbelina asked, sounding almost concerned. Vanellope would have fallen for it, if it wasn't for the fact that King Candy already tried, and she barely escaped with her code. _

_She shoved her hands in her pockets, ready to run at any time. She knew she couldn't outrace a kart, but she knew places to hide, or that were only accessible on foot. "Yeah, well… don't have any other options."_

_Crumbelina looked her over critically for a long while, making Vanellope glitch out of nervousness. Finally, she said. "Hop on. And try to make yourself inconspicuous, for chip's sake."_

"_Uh, what?" Crumbelina rolled her eyes. "I don't want any of the racers to see you when I drive home."_

"_Yeah… still don't get what you're getting at here." Crumbelina sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with two manicured nails._

"_I'm taking you home so that I can make you a brand new outfit, seeing that yours is… _that_." Crumbelina shuddered, deeply disturbed by Vanellope's self-made outfit._

"_And why should I believe you?" Vanellope asked suspiciously. Crumbelina turned to face her, eye to eye. "I _NEVER _joke about fashion. Ever."_

_Somehow, Vanellope didn't doubt that. Deep in her code, she could tell that clothes were important to Crumbelina, almost as important as racing, if not more important. Besides, when else was she going to get to ride in a kart?_

_The ride was smooth and uneventful, and although Crumbelina took the long way to 'avoid the others', Vanellope felt as though it didn't go on long enough. Finally, they stopped in a cookie cutter type of neighborhood, where all the houses looked A) completely the same, and B) made of cookies._

_She was quickly rushed inside in case somebody would see her, and was quickly placed on a higher platform in a backroom, surrounded by mannequins. "Other projects?" Vanellope asked, seeing a few completed outfits. They did look good, not that Vanellope knew anything about fashion; simple, yet elegant and classy. Perfect for racing, in fact. _

"_I like to design clothes for the other racers in my spare time." Crumbelina stated absentmindedly, gather cloth in several shades of white. "Now, I'm thinking vanilla, because of your name? I don't really know what flavor you're based on, sorry. Maybe with a side of licorice to match your hair?"_

_Vanellope shrugged. "You're the fashion expert. Besides, if you can make it look even _half_ as good as the other outfits here, I'm gonna be leaping for joy, crumblepants."_

_Crumbelina blushed. "Don't call me crumblepants." She warned, but the look on her face showed that she was unused to the compliments. "Now, let's see which shade of white looks best on you."_

_Ten minutes, and a decision of pure white with a little cream thrown in for flavor later, Vanellope watched her new outfit come to life upon one of the mannequins. Crumbelina sewed swiftly and delicately, as though she was designed for that and not racing. Once in a while, she turned to Vanellope and asked the other girl's thoughts on a particular design, if she would rather keep the hood or switch to a lighter jacket, loose or form fitting, whether she cared for a scarf or an ascot, or just wanted her neck bare. Vanellope occasionally answered yes or no, although mostly she left the decisions to Crumbelina. Finally, the outfit was finished, and Crumbelina turned away to give Vanellope privacy. For a final touch, Crumbelina redid her hair so that it was in a loose bun rather than the ponytail._

"_Well, what do you think?" Crumbelina asked, pleased either way with the way it turned out. Vanellope looked in the mirror with shock, eyes focused on every single aspect of it. "Is this… is this _me?"_ It couldn't be her! The girl in the mirror was far too beautiful to be Vanellope the glitch. _

_The girl in the mirror wore a white dress reaching her knees with ruffles at the end. Over it was a cream colored jacket with white trim along the cuffs and front, curving around equally white buttons. The socks were just like the old ones, which Crumbelina stated 'were the only thing worth keeping from your old outfit', only white and cream rather than mint. There were short boots instead of the shoes, cream colored with white soles. And the cherry on the top was the way Crumbelina tied her hair in a loose bun, with her bangs left intact. The overall look was that of a princess who was not currently on royal duties._

"_So, are you going to tell me what you think of the outfit, or should I leave to give you and the mirror some privacy?" Crumbelina asked, hands on her hips. _

_Vanellope turned to face her, having almost forgotten the saint who did this for her. "I… thank you. _Thank you_!"_

_Crumbelina smiled kindly at her. "Well, you're still a glitch," Crumbelina admitted. "But now you're a _fashionable _glitch. And… admittedly, not that bad a one either. Although you should probably leave; Taffyta's coming in about thirty minutes, and I doubt that would be a good situation for any of us."_

_Vanellope smiled back, and made her way out of the back door, promising to return sometime afterwards.-_

_-She did return, but only after the memories and the dress were wiped away, while in hiding from the police. She hid in the back room, wondering why it was so barren…-_

"We can probably use the code room to get all your clothing back. It'd be a shame to lose so much work and effort." At this, Crumbelina started crying, although they were tears of joy rather than fear. "Th-thank you."

"No, thank you for caring enough to give new clothes to a glitch." With that, Vanellope moved on to Adorabeezle, who was almost shaking in fear. Vanellope didn't even try to say anything, preferring to touch the cold skinned girl on the arm, and then-

_-She was at the peak of one of the snow covered mountain, watching to see if there were any races here today. Sometimes the racers who were unable to make the roster practiced races in deserted areas such as this. Vanellope just hoped she picked the right track this time. It would be just her luck to freeze here solid without seeing a single kart._

_Vanellope shivered; her outfit wasn't made for the snow. It wasn't made for much of anything, really, other than to cover her up. She was just about to leave when she saw a burst of flurries. It was small, but it was enough to interest her as she walked towards it._

_Sadly, as she peeked over from a pile of snow, she saw that it wasn't a kart moving the confectionary sugar snow. It was Adorabeeze, with what looked like two wooden sticks strapped to her feet, and another pair in her hands, which she was using to propel herself forward. From the look of absolute concentration on her face, Vanellope could guess that it wasn't easy to do... whatever it was that she was doing._

"_So, what're you doing with the sticks?" Vanellope asked from over the snow pile. Adorabeezle froze- Vanellope snickered at the pun- and lost her balance, falling face first into the snow._

_She pulled herself up, glaring at Vanellope. "And what do _you_ want? I'm busy here."_

"_Yeah, busy FALLING ON YOUR FACE!" Vanellope laughed, pointing at the wobbling girl. Adorabeezle grimaced, trudging over to where Vanellope was standing. _

"_I'd like to see you do better." She challenged. Vanellope rolled her eyes. "Doing what? I have no clue what in the Hershey's you're doing."_

_Adorabeezle's face fell, the glare washing away to be replaced with almost a hollow look. "I don't know either."_

_And with that, all the distain Vanellope had for her was gone. She scooted closer to the ice cream flavored girl. "Go on."_

_Adorabeezle looked at her suspiciously, but continued. "I keep trying to do… _this_, but I just can't! I know I'm supposed to, I can-"_

"_Feel it in your code…" Vanellope finished for her. Adorabeezle looked at her, confused. "Why… yes. How did you know?"_

"_That's what racing is for me." Vanellope admitted. The two girls looked at each other, and an unspoken connection was formed. They were the misprogrammed, unable to do what they were made for. _

"_You know," Adorabeezle said, breaking the long silence between them. "We could help each other learn."_

"_Right… How am I supposed to help you with your… stick racing?" Vanellope asked, looking at Adorabeezle's equipment with distaste. "I know even less than you do about it!"_

_Adorabeezle started to take off the sticks she had strapped to her feet. "Look, if I watch you do it, then maybe I might get an idea of what not to do."_

_Vanellope rolled her eyes. "Thank you for the vote of confidence, ice pop." Still, she took the sticks and strapped them on._

_For the next half hour or so, Vanellope fell on her face repeatedly. Each time though, she had a pair of hand help lift her back up, and that made it all worthwhile.-_

_-She fell in the snow again, only this time it was after being pushed by Adorabeezle for trying to watch her race. She felt a pair of sticks buried deep in the snow, and wondered what they were there for.-_

"We're going to fix your code back up again, alright? I promise, you'll be able to do your stick thing sometime soon." Adorabeezle looked up at her, and gave her a soft smile. "It's called skiing."

Vanellope smiled back, before moving onto the next group of people. "Citrusella, Tovald, Sticky, Nougetsia."

The four palette swaps looked amazed at her. Sticky stepped forwards. "You- you know us by name?"

"Of course I do! Why wouldn't I?" Vanellope saw the other racers- except for Swizzle and Jubileena, oddly enough- look embarrassed. "Seriously guys? Seriously? They're racers too." That's it, after all this is over, she's going to force everybody to go to a seminar on not judging others by their appearances. Ralph could probably run it.

She pushed all thoughts of reeducation through learning rather than changing their codes aside for now, and put out her hand. With some trepidation, Nougetsia put her hand forward. Then Tovald, who smiled at Jubileena. Sticky put her hand on top of the others, nodded to Swizzle that she'd be alright. Finally, Citrusella put her hand down. Vanellope focused, and-

_-She was watching the four palette swaps race in the middle of the Candy Cane Forest, hidden behind a particularly large tree trunk. The four of them always met here once a week to practice racing, away from their originals. Vanellope didn't blame them; it's hard to be judged for something you couldn't control._

_It was strange how different their racing styles were from the girls they shared a base with. Citrusella was in the lead, going faster than her red counterpart ever went, although her turns were a lot worse. Vanellope winced as she nearly crashed, giving Sticky a chance to pass her._

_Sticky might not have been as fast as her counterpart, but she had better control by far, swerving and shaking off the other three racers as though she had been designed that way. Somehow, Vanellope knew it was just practice, as she saw Tovald zoom past her on her boost, she was reminded practice doesn't make perfect._

_Just because Sticky and Tovald were swaps of the same racer, doesn't mean they had the same racing styles. Tovald focused on the sweet boost to push her ahead, which Vanellope thought was a pretty risky approach, as the boost is totally random. It would be like her using her glitch as the main part of her racing strategy._

_Finally, pulling up the rear was Nougetsia, who seemed pretty much like a jack-of-all-trades from what Vanellope could see. The pink recolor was usually above average in all of the stats. Oddly enough, she seemed to be preoccupied today, not putting that much effort into the race. Finally, she stopped near where Vanellope was hiding, finishing the race early._

_Vanellope expected to hear groans and complains from the other racers, especially from Citrusella, who had just taken the lead again. Instead, what the blueberry girl said was "hi Vanellope."_

_She glitched with shock when she heard that, before getting herself back under control and coming out from behind the tree. The racers didn't look too upset at her presence. "So, when'd you figure out I was there?" Vanellope asked, leaning on the tree's side._

"_A few months ago." Tovald shrugged. "We didn't see any harm in you hanging around, so we just let you be."_

"_Yeah," Sticky jumped in. "You never really get a chance to watch the others race, so we thought you could watch us."_

"_I wanted to tell you about it before, but these yogurt brains didn't want to scare you off." Nougetsia rolled her eyes. "So I… forced the issue."_

"_By not taking the race seriously." Vanellope said, putting the pieces together. Nougetsia gave her a little salute, which Vanellope returned hesitantly._

"_Being a glitch is pretty bad, but being a recolor is no hard candy either." Tovald explained. "I can count on one hand how many people, aside from the girls here, treat us like we're real racers."_

"_So…" Sticky fidgeted, "we want to help you become a racer." _

_Vanellope looked at the four in shock, but there was no malice in their faces, only an honest desire to help. "R-really?" She said, hating the way her voice cracked._

"_Really." Citrusella smiled at her, and then stuck out her hand. Sticky put her hand on top of it, and Tovald after her. Nougetsia put her hand down, but left a gap large enough for one more girl._

_Vanellope put her hand on top of theirs, and tried not to cry from the sheer relief of not being alone anymore.-_

_-It took a longer time for people to catch on- nobody ever thought of the color swaps- but they did, just as Vanellope was getting comfortable making slow loops around the track in a borrowed cart. Their friendship was terminated, not just with Vanellope, but with each other.-_

"I promise you, things will get better." Vanellope told them, honestly. "I won't put up with anybody treating you as second-rate just because you look like somebody else."

She left them to be comforted by each other, while she moved towards Candlehead, who was nearly in tears. "Hey, cheer up, Candle." Vanellope said cheerfully. "Don't want to extinguish yourself without making a wish!"

Candlehead's eyes widened as Vanellope put a hand on her shoulder and said-

_-"H-happy birthday." Vanellope rolled her eyes at the figure before her. The aptly named candleheaded girl trembled slightly, holding out a small cake as if it was a shield. What did she want? "Hey genius, it's not my birthday."_

"_Y-yes it is!" Candlehead said, a little more forcefully. Her eyes widened, as if she realized who she had nearly yelled at, and she backed away slightly._

_Vanellope stood and stretched. "What, did that candle burn out all your brain cells? Programs don't have birthdays, a-doy." And even if they did, it stands to reason that glitches wouldn't. After all, they weren't important enough to be nice to, let alone have something as special and personal as a birthday._

_Candlehead shook her head, flame swaying slightly as she moved it. "Well… it's the tenth anniversary of Sugar Rush, and that's the date we all went online, so…"_

"_Let me guess, that counts as everybody having a big birthday to you, doesn't it?" Vanellope asked rhetorically, letting more than a pinch of malice enter her voice. She probably shouldn't be doing this, not to a girl as easily led as Candlehead, but considering how often the one leading her was Taffyta, and she was being led into making sure _the glitch _never had fun, well… Vanellope never had much empathy for the girl. "Well, guess what? I'm not technically a part of the game. That means it isn't my birthday. So why don't you run along and celebrate with Taffyta and the rest of your fellow groupies?"_

_Vanellope regretted her words when she saw Candlehead's eyes water, tears starting to roll down the girl's cheeks, her candle nearly extinguished. "Buh-because Taffy-Taffyta said muh-my idea was stupid, an' that birthdays are stupid."_

"_Aren't birthdays your thing?" Vanellope asked, feeling almost sick to her stomach at Taffyta's harsh words. It was one thing to say that kind of stuff to an enemy, somebody who you think shouldn't exist. It was entirely different to say it to somebody who entirely looked up to you, who was supposedly one of your best friends._

_Candlehead just nodded, still holding the cake out as if it were a lifeline. Vanellope sighed, taking the cake from her and setting it down on the ground next to her before walking forward._

_The birthday girl looked at her curiously, as if trying to figure out what Vanellope was going to do. Judging by Candlehead's surprise when Vanellope wrapped her arms around her, a hug was not top of that list. "I'm sorry." Vanellope whispered into the other girl's ear, head resting on her shoulder. "Nobody should be treated that way, especially not by a friend."_

_Candlehead stilled, apparently having a realization. "But that's how we treat you…" She muttered, seeming to realize that only now. Better late than never, as far as Vanellope was concerned._

"_Let's just say I am in a distinct position to know what I'm talking about here." Vanellope replied, lacking the usual vitriol to it, however. She could tell that Candlehead was at a crossroads, and needed to make her own choice._

_The two girls stood there, holding onto each other as if they were the last things in the entire game. Finally, they pulled away, now staring at each other. _

_Vanellope broke the awkward silence. "You know, I might not have a birthday, because of the glitch thing… but if you want me to pretend…" She shrugged._

_This time, it was Candlehead who initiated the hug. "'m sorry for the way we've treated you," Candlehead muttered into Vanellope's shoulder, flame dangerously close to her ear._

_Vanellope patted her on the back. "It's okay…" It wasn't, not really, but it was going to be, now that Candlehead was turning over a new leaf._

_They stood like that a little while longer before Candlehead pulled away, eyes red and puffy but with a look of determination on her face. "It is your birthday, though. Glitch or not, you've been around since the beginning, so it still counts!"_

"_Okay, you win!" Vanellope chuckled, mostly happy to see her new friend look not as sad anymore. "I guess that means I get to blow out the candles?"_

_She said it mostly in jest, which made Candlehead's nod and subsequent bowing down seem all the stranger. _

"_Candle…" Vanellope said, feeling shocked and somewhat honored at the girl's actions. "I can't blow out your candle… I know how much it means to you." She'd seen the way the racer treated the candle atop her head like a prized possession._

_Candlehead looked up. "But I want you too." She stated, smiling brightly. "Besides, what's the use of birthday candles except to make a wish?" _

_Vanellope, touched by the gesture, leaned over slightly and took a deep breath in. She closed her eyes. _I wish I could race; even it was only just one time. I want to prove that I can be a real racer. _Then she gently blew outwards._

_She opened her eyes to see Candlehead smiling at her, despite- or possibly because of- her precious candle being extinguished. "Did you make a wish?" She asked excitedly. "What was it?! Wait! Don't tell me! Otherwise it won't come true!"_

_Vanellope smiled at the girl's excited antics as her candle blazed up again. "Right now, all I want is some of that cake you brought. It looks delicious!"-_

_The two feasted on the birthday cake, and made plans for next year's celebration.-_

_-As it turned out, there was no celebration next year, or the one after that, or the one after that, as King Candy found out about the girls' plans and dragged the poor innocent Candlehead away from the nasty glitch that was trying to trick her into one of her dastardly plans. Candlehead sobbed and screamed until suddenly, she had no idea what she was so upset about. Something about the glitch? Did the glitch try and blow out her candle?-_

"Did your wish come true?" Candlehead asked, her voice soft and shy. Vanellope grinned. "Of course it did! I wished upon the most powerful birthday candle this side of the Whack-A-Mole, after all!"

Both of them looked like they wanted to hug the other, but they knew time was not a friend here. By now, the other racers had caught onto what she was doing, and were looking at her curiously, wondering what she could say to _them_ to get them so worked up in tears or smiles… or worse, if she didn't have anything to say to them.

It was clear to them that she was reminding them of good, forgotten times they had shared. But what if there was no good times, no good memories cultivated?

Undaunted by the hush of the crowd, Vanellope moved on with the grace of a queen towards Jubileena who ducked her head, embarrassed at her actions. How could she, pre-programmed to be one of the nicest racers, act so cruel to anybody, no matter what the others did?

"Your presidency, I'm-" Jubileena's desperately pleading apology was stopped when Vanellope put a finger to the girl's lips. "Now-

_-shush, will you? We're both going to be in a lot of trouble if the others find out about this." Jubileena pleaded, lips pursed tightly and her normally pink skin going pale at the sight of the damage done to Vanellope._

_Vanellope groaned, trying to pull herself up in spite of her injuries. Jubileena pushed her back down gently. "And please, stay still? I'm here to help you."_

_There was something about the desperation in the normally cheery girl's voice that made Vanellope pause in her struggle, a trickle of lucidity breaking through the pain. She watched as the girl opened the basket she brought, revealing white cloth._

"_I'm sorry, but I had to hurry, and this was the only thing I could bring without it looking too suspicious." Jubileena blabbed, fast and quiet in a way that made Vanellope all the more lightheaded. Perhaps she noticed this, as she immediately stopped talking and forced herself to calm down, pulling out the cloth and accessing the damage._

_It was bad, worse than usual. Vanellope's left arm was completely pulled out of its socket and its right twin was broken in at least one place. Her legs too, were broken, with the right leg twisted in a way that made Jubileena wince. Her chest and shoulders were riddled with cuts and bruises, each one leaking some sort of white chocolate/vanilla extract/peppermint mix through her hoodie that made Jubileena's stomach turn as the sickeningly sweet smell made its way to her nose. It was hard to tell if her face was injured, as the strange concoction that made up her blood was the same color as her skin, but knowing how badly she was injured, it was likely that the others didn't pull their punches when it came to her face._

"_I'm going to have to undress you." Jubileena told the half-conscious girl, knowing that she likely wouldn't be aware enough to understand what she was saying. "I need to bandage your wounds before you bleed out."_

_She got no reply in response, but Vanellope was remarkably complainant when Jubileena started to remove her shoes. That was either good in that Vanellope was awake enough to understand and trusted her enough to let her take care of her… or bad because Vanellope was already too weak to fight her._

_Jubileena tried not to focus on that possibility and instead worked to remove the girl's socks. Now the smell was even more overpowering as Jubileena rolled them back to reveal more and more white. A brief part of her that was not recoiling in horror wondered if the mixture of substances was because Vanellope was a glitch, while the rest of her focused on wrapping the wounds as tightly as she could without hurting the poor girl even more._

"_I'm going to have to set your leg and ankle." She told Vanellope, who was lying back in a slump. "It's going to hurt, but you can't race if your bones heal the wrong way."_

_She wasn't going to race either way, no matter how well she healed, but Jubileena wasn't going to tell her that. Not after seeing the way that comment brought the light back to her eyes._

"_That's right," Jubileena continued, wincing as she set the bone with a loud crack. Vanellope winced too, but managed to stifle any sounds other than a heart-breaking whimper. "People get hurt all the time in races, so you have to be able to withstand a lot."_

_It was true, technically, although those injuries tended to be more of cuts and scrapes, rather than broken bones. Still, Vanellope seemed to take solace in the fact, as if this was all just to prepare her to become a better racer._

"'_m sorry, but I have to check." Jubileena finished her legs and moved upwards, slipping the girl's skirt up with a vibrant blush. The fact that she was wearing underwear long enough to almost constitute a pair of shorts only lessened the embarrassment a little. It didn't help that her thighs and hips were as cut and bruised as the rest of her, forcing Jubileena to bandage her up there as well. The only good thing about it was Vanellope's almost smirk at the cherry themed girl's discomfort, showing that she still had a bit of fight left in her after all._

_Jubileena did as good a job as she could, considering the circumstances, and was now faced with a different challenge. Vanellope's hoodie, which would normally just be slipped off, was covering at least one broken bone, and likely more were hidden under its teal fabric. How could she get it off without hurting Vanellope even more?_

"_I'm sorry," Jubileena muttered as she grabbed a pointy bit of candy cane that had fallen from one of the trees. Vanellope's eyes widened as she struggled to get up, but she was gently pinned down by Jubileena who brought the sharp stick down and... cut through Vanellope's hoodie from neck to bottom, revealing a white camisole underneath. Well, at least she wouldn't have to worry about Vanellope going around in nothing but a skirt._

"_What?" She asked, seeing Vanellope's confused expression. "I had to get your shirt off somehow. What did you think I was going to do with it?"_

_Vanellope only rolled her eyes as Jubileena pushed the hoodie remains aside to see the injuries better. Her torso was a wreck, so covered in her white bloodlike substance that Jubileena had to wonder if her tank top was white to begin with. She pulled it up so that she could bandage her chest, feeling Vanellope's intake of breath as she touched a problem area. _

"_You probably have at least one broken rib, but I have no idea how to treat that." Jubileena told her sadly. "So be careful with that, alright?" _

_She moved on to the arms, this time cutting the hoodie at its sleeves. "Sorry about your jacket. I have a friend who could make you a new one, if only because she won't be able to stand the idea of somebody running around without a proper top." At this, Jubileena got a smile out of Vanellope, something fragile and shaky that made her want to hold onto her tightly and never let go. But that would only aggravate her injuries even more, so Jubileena pushed the thought away and started work on the arms. _

_She set Vanellope's right arm with the upmost of care, although Vanellope still let out a strangled hiss of pain, much like a wounded animal. Pushing her left arm back into its socket was even worse, bringing tears to the eyes of both girls from both the pain and being forced to bring it. Still, Jubileena finished bandaging her arms and moved onto her neck._

_Her neck wasn't broken- Jubileena was pretty sure that Vanellope wouldn't still be there if it had been- but it had been damaged, as seen by Vanellope's silence. This was another thing Jubileena didn't know how to treat, and so she just bandaged it like the rest._

_Finally, she set out to work on her face. It was hard to see what was hurt, but the swelling was a good indicator of what she needed to bandage._

_Jubileena stood back to admire her hard work, forcing herself not to laugh. Vanellope looked almost like some sort of half dressed mummy. It would be funny if it wasn't for the reason why she looked like that. "King Ca- We've been told that if we get a bad head injury, we shouldn't go to sleep for a few hours. So… no sleeping, got it?"_

_Vanellope blinked at her and smiled blurrily. "Wuh… Why are you?" She forced out, her voice sounding like it had gone through a grater. Jubileena frowned, sitting back down next to Vanellope._

"_You've met my sister, right? Her name is Citrusella. We look a lot alike." Vanellope fought down a smirk, and she bobbed her head slightly, much to Jubileena's displeasure._

"_Please don't move your head like that; you're only going to make yourself worse." Jubileena shifted. "Some… some of the other racers don't like my sister or her friends. They say they aren't real racers, just because of the way they look."_

_Vanellope scowled, knowing what it felt like. "Tovald and Sticky tend to make it out okay. The other racers are a bit scared of Minty, to tell you the truth. And Nougetsia goes pretty much under the radar, although I still have to patch her up more often than I'd like. But… I'm not really that threatening, so…"_

_So Citrusella was fair game, Vanellope mentally finished, making a face. Jubileena sighed, and finished it off. "It doesn't really get as bad as this, but I still couldn't stand to see anybody else in the same place as her."_

_Vanellope moved her arm with a wince, positioning it so that her hand was on top on Jubileena's. She understood the gesture, and smiled softly, a far cry from the cheerful countenance she usually had._

"_Nobody should be treated like that…" Jubileena muttered to herself, and Vanellope heard herself being included in that statement, one of the victims to the injustices of the game. It was…_ nice _to be included for a change.-_

_-Of course, that inclusion didn't last long with King Candy and his men on the watch for any suspicious activity including the glitch, and just a few weeks later Jubileena was one of the attackers. Oddly enough, though, she made sure to avoid Vanellope's throat and chest, as if she didn't want her hurt specifically in those areas.-_

-come on, you really think I'm going to be mad at you for that?" Jubileena blinked. She was so into her thoughts that she didn't hear what Vanellope was saying.

Vanellope groaned, rolling her eyes. "Hello? Anybody in there, cherry brains?" She tapped her fist lightly against the brim of Jubileena's hat.

Jubileena couldn't help it; she started giggling. Vanellope followed suit. Pretty soon, all eyes were on the two girls giggling as though they had found the funniest joke in the arcade.

Vanellope was still chuckling as she moved onto the next racer, her kind smile showing Jubileena there was no hard feelings. The smile seemed to ease Minty, as did Tovald and Sticky slipping their hands into hers, giving their sister confidence that everything was going to turn out alright. Vanellope was not about to let them down.

"Minty." The girl looked up, looking slightly scared but brave nonetheless. If Vanellope was going to punish her, she was going to face it with honor.

Vanellope took the girl's hand gently, and said-

_-"Hey! Leave her alone!" Vanellope looked up from where she was curled up, trying to prevent any kicks to land somewhere vital. Her eyes widened when she saw the wrapper bow._

_She didn't know Minty Zaki personally, but she knew what was said about her. It varied from Defender of the Little People to Bloodthirsty Psycho that Bullies Innocent Racers, depending on who was talking. Considering Taffyta's wide eyed stare and the way she dropped her lollypop, she was entrenched deeply in the 'Psycho' camp._

"_Oh, hello Minty!" Taffyta tried to keep her voice sweet and clear. Behind her, Rancis and Candlehead were already backing off; clearly realizing that staying around was a near death sentence. "We were just, um… helping the glitch up! You know how clumsy those glitches are!"_

"_Liar." Minty spat, narrowing her eyes and walking forward. "Unless you were planning to help her up with your feet?"_

_Taffyta nervously looked behind her. Rancis had already fled, and Candlehead was giving Taffyta a sad look as she climbed into the Ice Screamer. Taffyta took a deep breath, trying to find her courage. "Why would you want to help her anyway? She's just a glitch in the game."_

"_Yes." Minty took another step forward. Taffyta scrambled backwards, trying to keep away from what would have been a taste of her own medicine. "Just like my sisters are just recolored versions of my character model. Just like you are just a bully picking on somebody much weaker than you are." _

"_And you're nuts!" Taffyta screeched, nearly tripping over Pink Lightning before jumping inside, thankful for that added protection from, in her eyes, the dangerous psycho. "I'm telling King Candy about this!" She shouted over the exhaust pipes before driving away._

_Minty stood there in silence, slightly tilting her head before saying. "Would you tell him of your treatment of…"She stopped, clearly embarrassed, before turning to the girl on the ground. "I am sorry, but could you tell me your name?"_

"_It's Vanellope. Vanellope Von Schweetz." She sat up a bit straighter, putting a hand on her stomach with a groan. It would be a case of 'that's going to hurt in the morning', except that it already hurt plenty now. Still, it was better than what would have happened, if it wasn't for Minty's interference. "Hey, thanks for the save."_

_Minty bowed her head in acknowledgement. "It was no problem, Vanellope. I was just on my way, and saw them surrounding someone." She blushed, bright green against her skin, matching the rest of her outfit. "In honesty, I thought it was one of my sisters."_

"_Sticky and… Tobald, right?" Vanellope shrugged with a wince. It didn't bother her in the slightest that she was practically saved by accident. Somebody caring enough not to turn away when they see her is enough of a rarity that Vanellope didn't really care why._

_Minty's eyes widened slightly, and she smiled, sitting besides Vanellope. "Her name is Tovald, but you are close enough. Closer than most anyway. Most just call her 'yellow Minty'."_

_Vanellope grimaced from both the pain, and the derogatory term for a girl who she didn't know, but could emphasize with. Being a glitch is pretty bad, but it seemed like being a recolor wouldn't be a sweet ride either._

_Minty looked over Vanellope, seeing a white substance leak through in certain places. "Where are you hurt most?" She asked authoritatively. _

_Vanellope didn't see any reason to argue. "My arm." She said honestly, not having any reason to argue. Minty got straight to business, unwrapping her hair bow and straightening it out on the ground. "Would you please lift up your sleeve?" She asked._

_Vanellope blinked, but did as she asked, cringing slightly as she did so. It took Minty gently wrapping her bow around her arm that Vanellope realized what she was doing. "You're… treating me?" She asked, shocked that somebody would go to such a length to help her. "With your own bow?"_

"_Yes." Minty said simply. "But do not be alarmed, I have many more like it at home. One less is no big deal." Without the bow, Minty's bangs swept across her forehead in an entirely different fashion, somehow looking straighter. Vanellope got a flash of a different girl, one with paler skin and a strange pink outfit that was somehow both jacket and dress._

"_I am sorry I cannot do more." Vanellope was snapped back into reality by Minty's voice. "Truthfully, Jubileena is usually the one to do the bandages. I mostly just scare people off."_

_Vanellope looked at her arm, tightly wrapped in a bow. It looked fine to her. She looked up at Minty with a grin. "Seems alright to me!"_

_Minty smiled back at her, smaller than Vanellope's. She stood up. "I will talk to my friends and my sisters. I know we do not seem like much, but if I get all of us on the same side with this, perhaps we can make your life a little better."_

_Vanellope counted them up on her fingers. "That would be you, Tovald, Sticky, Jubileena, Citrusella, Adorabeezle, Nougetsia…" She trailed off. That was almost half the racers!_

_Minty's smile took on a devious glint. "We are more than most people expect." Vanellope nodded, reminded again of the pale girl in pink._

"_I should be going." Minty walked towards her kart. "Time is of the essence, and I need to forewarn the others of what might occur. We may face danger and scorn because of this, but if we stay a united front, they cannot truly hurt us."_

_It wasn't until Minty had long sense driven away that Vanellope realized that she was included as part of the 'us.'-_

_-It was only a few minutes after the realization that Vanellope's memories were wiped clean, leaving her to wonder why she had Minty's bow wrapped around her arm-_

"I'd still like to join your group, unless it's only a sisters thing? Because if it is, I should tell you about my long lost twin Chocomint." Minty smiled, reaching out a hand. "You and… Chocomint are welcome to come any time you please."

They shook hands, and Vanellope caught another glimpse of the girl in pink. Seeing Minty's wide eyed expression, she wasn't the only one. She would have to talk to her later to find out what had happened with her. Had her code somehow been altered?

It would make sense for her code to have been changed dramatically; Turbo ripped out much of her game just to make himself fit, even before he locked her out. Vanellope was going to have a lot of work to do when it came to fixing the game's codes. The girl in pink would be just the beginning.

But that would have to wait for later, after the races. As for right now, the arcade was going tp open any minute and she had racers she still needed to see.

Deciding to cheat a little, she glitched in front of Snowanna, causing the other girl to gasp and put her hand at her chest, trying to regain her balance as she nearly fell over. Vanellope snickered. "Oh, come on Snowball, and here I thought you were 'down with' pretty much anything!"

Still, she held out a hand to help bring the racer back to her feet. Snowanna took it, and-

_- Vanellope watched as Snowanna entered the clearing, safely hidden behind an overturned snow cone, the blue raspberry and lime flavor mix perfect for blending in with her teal hoodie. She had hoped to find the other girl practicing racing moves, or maybe just fixing up her kart, so that she could learn enough to make a kart of her own._

_However, Snowanna just parked her car in the clearing, and after making sure there was nobody around, flipped a switch. Immediately, music started to play. But it was a far cry from the rapid, nearly incomprehensible theme song that always played distantly in the background. It was lower, with a more distinct beat, and for lack of a better word, 'groovier'. Vanellope felt her foot tap, completely out of her own control._

_But she wasn't the only one. Not only was Snowanna's foot, her head was also bobbing to the rhythm, a slight sway in her movements as she walked forward to the clearing._

_Vanellope watched in interest as Snowanna reached the center of her 'stage' and just stood there, head bowed. Suddenly, her head snapped up, and she took a step to the left, holding her hands above her head and shaking her hips._

_Absentmindedly, Vanellope followed her movement, shuffling slightly to the left._

_Snowanna then took a step to the right, reversing her hand and hip movements, then placed her foot forward, spinning right on her heel so she was facing the opposite direction._

_Vanellope followed her clumsily, nearly falling into the snow cone on the spin, but still managing to keep on her feet. She cautiously decided to hang onto the paper wrapper of the snow cone, just in case she lost her balance._

_If Snowanna heard her near miss, she didn't acknowledge it, far too caught up in the beat of the song to pay attention to the rustle of a snow cone wrapper as somebody clings to it to stay upright._

_Her feet moved faster, stepping forward twice, then twice back. Then she stepped to the left then to the right, repeating the motion. Finally, she spun again, first left then right. Her last spin having her face Vanellope directly. _

_"Heh." Vanellope glitched nervously, still holding onto the snow cone wrapper tightly. "Nice dancing?"_

_To her surprise, Snowanna didn't start shouting at her for spying on her, or try to attack her. Rather, she smiled. "Right back at you, for a beginner. Might help if you weren't cuddling a cone next time. Nearly lost the rhythm under all that crinkling."_

_Vanellope let go of the snow cone sheepishly. "Well I was trying not to be noticed." She muttered under her breath. However, Snowanna heard her._

_"Well, dancing is all about being noticed. You get all eyes drawn on you, whether you're good or bad." Snowanna explained. "Trying not to be noticed dancing is like trying to win the race driving backwards. It's just not something you can really do."_

_"So, if the point of dancing is being noticed," Vanellope said crossly, "then why are you dancing all the way out here?"_

_"Hey, I never said the attention's the point of dancing, it's just a side effect. You don't dance because of the attention, you dance because you got rhythm in your code, and you have to get it out through your feet." Snowanna stated, pointing down to her feet, which were still tapping._

_"I thought only music games had rhythm in their code." Vanellope said, although not full heartedly. She saw Snowanna dance, and while Vanellope didn't know much about dancing, she could tell Snowanna was really enthusiastic about her work._

_"Nah, everybody's got it. It's just that most don't know what to do with it." Snowanna poked Vanellope in the chest, causing her to glitch slightly. "Even you do, glitchgirl, though it might be a bit different from most. All you have to do is listen."_

_Vanellope pushed her arm away, annoyed that the racer called her a glitch. Still, she closed her eyes and listened intently. If she could hear the rhythm, that meant she had a code. If she had a code, that meant she had to be a real character. If she was a real character, that meant she HAD to be a racer!_

_Then she heard it. A steady beat inside her, so low that she didn't even notice it at first. After she heard it though, it refused to fade to the background. It was almost distracting, this rhythm inside her. Did Snowanna hear this all the time? Vanellope snapped open her eyes and grinned at Snowanna. "I heard it!"_

_Snowanna smiled back at her. "Wow, you got it quick. What did it sound like?"_

_"Like, like..." Vanellope stretched her mind to find the best comparison. "It's like the roar of engines crossing the finish line, only... It's softer, but at the same time triumphant?" Vanellope felt silly trying to explain it, when it was essentially indescribable. The only thing she could say for certain was that it was the best thing in the world._

_Snowanna's eyes widened, and she took a step back. "Well, yes. But that's just like- Wait right here."_

_Vanellope blinked. "What?" What did she do wrong this time?_

_Snowanna was already in her kart slipping on her goggles. "Look, I promise you, it's nothing wrong. But just... Stay here, okay? I'll be back soon, I promise. I just gotta get some things settled up."_

_Vanellope would have protested, but Snowanna had already driven off. She contemplated running off, but against her better judgment, she decided to trust the snow cone themed racer, and stayed where she was.-_

_-She stayed there even after she forgot why she was even there, until Wendell and Duncan arrived to drag her off to the Fungeon. She ran after that, feeling betrayed without understanding why she felt that way.-_

"Care to tell me why you ran off in such a hurry?" Vanellope asked, not from malice but out of curiosity. Still, Snowanna fidgeted. "Well… it was the way you described your beat. It was just like a racer's, and I was thinking why would a glitch have a racer's beat? So I went to the king, hoping he'd know what to do. Lookin' back, I probably should have told you what I was doin', but…"

"You didn't want to get my hopes up." Vanellope answered, cracking a smile that was mostly just for show. Why didn't Snowanna just tell her then? She could have at least had that little bit of proof that she was a real racer, even if it was only until Turbo wiped it away again.

Still, princess or president, she still had a duty to her people… heh, doodie. Vanellope walked away from Snowanna, although not before looking over her shoulder. "Hey Snow, I think I'm going to be pretty busy for a while, but as soon as I can, what do you say to you and me in DDR? I promise I'll go easy on you."

Snowanna smiled. They both knew that hands down she'd win; she had much more practice, as well as preprogrammed talent. But it wasn't about the dancing. Rather, it was an acceptance to let bygones be bygones. "Only if you think you can keep up."

"You know it." Vanellope's smile was much more real this time, as she turned to face Swizzle, who was still on his knees from when he and the others were begging her forgiveness. Apparently he had either forgotten to get up, or the revelation had struck him harder than she thought. Still, she helped him up.

"Thanks," Swizzle said, clearly embarrassed either about the way he treated her or having to be helped up by a girl. Vanellope shrugged. "No problem. Besides, you helped me up once. I'm just returning the favor."

Swizzle looked at her blankly until she took him by the hand. His eyes widened, and then-

_-he was flying on what appeared to be a giant kite. Vanellope looked up in amazement as he soared over the gulch behind her, clearly at ease despite the fact that if he crashed, he only had the metal bar he hung onto to protect him. _

_He landed with more grace than she expected, going into a casual descent then letting go of the bar as soon as he was close enough to the ground not to break anything. The kite landed a few feet away from them, crumpled on the ground. Swizzle turned to face her, breaking her out of her trance. _

_Vanellope panicked, running backwards and glitching, so much so that she forgot where she was until she felt the ground crumble beneath her feet. But at that point it was too late. She was already falling to what would have been certain doom, or at least regeneration._

_Would have been, if not for a hand grabbing her at the last moment. "Don't worry, the Swizz has got you!"_

_Together, they pulled her back up to safety. The two of them just stood there for a moment, looking at each other uneasily. Somehow, Swizzle looked more concerned after pulling her up than he did while flying. Finally, he asked. "Are you okay?"_

"_Yeah, I'm fine." Vanellope bit her tongue, fighting the urge to ask him what he thought she felt like after nearly falling to her death. He may have been one of the racers who picked on her, but he did save her life._

"_Oh, that's good." Swizzle shuffled his feet, and awkward silence resumed. Vanellope knew she should probably run, but her curiosity was too great. _

"_So, what was that thing you flying with?" She pointed to the crumpled mess behind him. Swizzle looked back to see. He walked back to straighten the thing out. "Oh, this is my kite-glider."_

_Vanellope ignored her better judgment to follow him and take a look at it. It was in shades of bright blues and vibrant greens, although she could see the other colors of the rainbow woven into the string like metal connecting the cloth to the metal bar she saw him holding. As he snapped the rods making the skeletal structure of the glider back into place, Vanellope saw that the glider was meant for crash landings._

"_And… done!" Swizzle finished reconstructing the glider and laid it out on the ground for her to see. It was pretty cool looking, being about five feet wide and multicolored ribbons coming from the back. Vanellope bent down to get a better look. "Huh, neat. Did you make this yourself?"_

_Swizzle blushed green at the compliment. "No, this was just something that came with my character. Maybe it was part of a scrapped minigame?"_

_Vanellope nudged it a little with her foot. "Either way, it still looks cool. How do you drive it, though?"_

_Swizzle widened his eyes and held up his hands in defense, as if he thought she was going to attack him to take control of his glider. "Okay, I'm sorry, but there's no way you can ride it."_

"_Why not?" Vanellope pouted, crossing her arms. She hadn't even asked if she could try it out… yet. She was about to after he explained it, even though she expected him to say no, but she wanted to at least _ask_ first._

"_Because glitches don't regenerate!" Swizzle practically yelled. This caused both of them to stop and stare at each other, clearly stunned. _

_Vanellope was the first to react. "And how do you know that?" She asked with a huff. "Nobody ever asked me."_

_Swizzle's eyes widened. "But… King Candy said that's why it was too dangerous for you to race, because you couldn't come back if you crashed."_

_Vanellope rolled her eyes. "Trust me; I know that's not the case." She didn't elaborate on what happened, and she could tell Swizzle was relieved about that. Not that she wanted to relive the experience herself._

_Swizzle hurriedly picked up his glider, preparing to take off. "We have to tell the king, he needs to know about this."_

"_Yeah, you go ahead and do that. Me and King Candy… we don't see eye to eye. Besides, you sure that glider can handle more than one?" Vanellope eyed it critically. Just because she could regenerate doesn't mean that it would be pleasant to crash in a heap of cloth and metal._

_Swizzle winced, apparently imagining the same thing as her. "You're right. I'll find you later with the good news!" And with a running start, he took off, looping and weaving in the wind. In his haste, one of the ribbons from his glider fell off, gently falling to the ground._

_Vanellope picked it up and pocketed it gently, a souvenir of the first time somebody stood up to King Candy for her.-_

_-It wasn't the first, not really, but the ribbon stayed in her pocket even after she forgot why she carried it around.-_

Vanellope reached into her pocket and pulled out the bright blue ribbon, handing it back to Swizzle. "I believe this is yours?"

Swizzle took it, recognition shining on her face. Vanellope grinned, leaning inwards. "Even if you can't put it back on your glider, I bet Sticky would be happy to get it as a gift."

She left Swizzle torn between blushing wildly and subtly trying to hold it up to Sticky's hair to see how it would look without her noticing. The next racer's problems were much less comical.

"Hey Taffyta." Vanellope said softly, trying to attract the lollypop girl's attention. "Are you alright?"

Taffyta looked up at her, mascara still dripping down her cheeks. "How could you ask that?" She sobbed. "Why would you even care about me after all that hap-" She was interrupted by Vanellope gently wrapping her arms around her.

"Hey-

_-what are you doing here?" Vanellope asked, trying to act casual even though she was glitching from sheer fear and nervousness. And why shouldn't she, when not a few feet away was Taffyta Muttonfudge, leader of the trio of racers who tormented her the most._

_Taffyta leaned against Pink Lightning, the ever present lollypop in her mouth. "What, can't a girl just hang out in the junkyard? Have a little chat with the glitch that's always scrounging around in here?" She asked casually, but her tone made it obvious she was not just here for a chat. The fact that her kart blocked the only exit was even more damning._

_Vanellope scowled, crossing her arms. "Alright Taffyta, I'm here. What are we going to talk about?" She was not in the mood to play games, not after having her latest attempt at making a kart destroyed. _

_Taffyta narrowed her eyes in response. "Just getting down to business, huh? Alright then. Why do you want to race so badly?"_

_The question nearly threw Vanellope for a loop, more for the tone than the words she had been taunted and teased with so many times that they've lost their bite. Taffyta sounded upset, but less so than she normally did. If anything, there was a hint of playfulness to her tone. Still, Vanellope recovered quickly. "I feel it in my code. Just like I've had the other thousand times you and your little minions have asked me that, in case you forgot. So why don't you start asking questions you don't already know the answers to?" _

_Taffyta gave a flash of a smirk. "Okay then. Here's one: Why do you think you'd win against any seasoned racers? Aside from the glitching, you have no kart, no coins, and no way in H-E-Double lollypops of getting either of those things. Besides, have you even _ridden _in a kart before, let alone driven one? Let's face it, your glitchiness, code can only do so much."_

_Vanellope bristled, mostly because of the fact that all of Taffyta's words were true. The situation seemed hopeless. But Vanellope was used to finding hope where none should exist. She stomped over towards Taffyta, forgetting the damage the racer could do. "Listen, Muttonfudge, I know you think I can't do anything, but given half a chance- you'll see! I will be the greatest racer this game has ever known!"_

_Taffyta's smirk only widened as she flicked away the lollypop stick, hoping into the driver's seat in the way only an experienced driver could. "Get in."_

"_What?" Vanellope asked, glitching in shock. This was usually the time Taffyta or one of the other racers beat her down, either verbally or with their fists. "What are you doing?"_

_Taffyta looked down at her from the driver's seat. "Giving you half a chance. Now get in, we don't have all day."_

_Vanellope bit her lip, then took a spot behind Taffyta. The chance that this was just a trap, and that Taffyta would just throw her trust back in her face, was high, but she had to risk it._

_Taffyta smirked again while revving her engine. "Good girl. Now, let a real racer show you how it's done."_

_Vanellope glitched in outrage at her words, but told herself that throwing Taffyta out of the kart would just cause them to crash and ruin her opportunity to get on friendly terms with any of the racers. Instead, she took Taffyta's almost-advice and watched her drive, trying to learn the moves for when- not if, _when_- she got a kart of her own._

_And Taffyta put on a show for her, swerving and accelerating to the point where Vanellope had to hang on for dear life, making sure to theatrically demonstrate everything from the brakes to the once per race special skills button. The only thing she didn't show was how to use the power-up boxes, and Vanellope had a feeling that was only because there weren't any outside of the Random Roster Race or while the players played._

_Finally she stopped neatly in the edge of a clearing in what Vanellope distantly thought was the Lollypop Fields. Taffyta dismounted, a fresh lollypop twisted off its stem and stuck into her mouth. "Well, what did you think of the ride here? Too fast for you?"_

_Vanellope hopped out, her hair a mess and a wide smile on her face as she glitched excitedly. "Woo! That was the most fun ever!" She called out, momentarily forgetting who gave her the ride. As soon as she remembered, she stifled herself, trying to play it cool. "I mean yeah, it was nice. A little slow, but hey, what can you expect?"_

_Taffyta smiled at her unexpectedly. "Trust me; you can go as fast as you want later. For now, we have business to take care of."_

_Vanellope instantly tensed up, glitching as she narrowed her eyes. Here comes the catch. "What kind of business are we talking about?"_

"_Oh, don't worry Vannie. You're going to like this, I promise you. Just follow me." Taffyta pivoted on her heel and walked away from Vanellope, expecting the other girl to follow her. Her expectations were quickly met as Vanellope ran towards her, trusting her enough to see what she was planning._

"_And… here we are." Taffyta led Vanellope to a cluster of bushes, sweeping her arm over them as if presenting her to a passageway towards a new life. Vanellope was unimpressed. "Oh, bushes. Yes, very nice. Is this what you really brought me out here to see?"_

"_No," Taffyta smirked, pushing aside the shrubbery. "This is."_

_Vanellope gasped, running forward. "Is this-"_

"_Yeah, it's a kart." Taffyta said, sounding very pleased with herself. Vanellope ignored her, running her hands over it. It was nothing special, mostly pink with black licorice, but it was a kart. "Is- is it mine?"_

_Taffyta leaned back. "It's yours… if you can prove yourself."_

_Vanellope looked up at her, her expression torn between what appeared to be self rage and desperate longing. Finally, in an uncharacteristically meek voice, she asked "So, what am I supposed to do?"_

_Taffyta's grin was distinctly feline. "Race me for it." _

_Vanellope looked at her, baffled. "Play that by me again," she requested, her hand trailed the hood of the kart._

"_Race me for it." Taffyta repeated, looking very self satisfied by the way things were going. "C'mon, you say you have the code for it. So let's prove it here and now."_

_Vanellope grinned back. "You're on."_

_Taffyta hopped onto the back of the kart, and let Vanellope drive them back to the clearing. For her first time, it was surprising to both of them how good at it she was. Maybe it was the fact that racing was 'in her code', but it was almost like she had driven before._

"_Alright, we can just race here." Taffyta jumped off the back of Vanellope's kart and ran back to hers. "Nobody really comes here, which is how I was able to sneak the kart out here."_

_Vanellope drove right up next to her, excited to not only drive, but also to finally _race_. "Seems fine to me. Three laps, start right here?"_

_Taffyta smirked, lollypop back in her mouth. "Sounds good to me. Get ready…"_

"_Set…" Vanellope was barely able to hold her glitching, she was so excited!_

"_Go!" The girls shouted in unison, and started barreling across the clearing._

_Taffyta may have been the more experienced racer, but that meant she had underestimated Vanellope, and paid for it when the novice just _flew _past her in the first lap, her disorientation giving Vanellope a huge lead! That lead quickly evaporated once Taffyta regained her senses and sped up, narrowly beating Vanellope by crossing into lap two first. But it was lap three where things really started to get intense, with the girls both neck and neck, going full throttle on the accelerator! It was only a well timed glitch from Vanellope that caused her to cross the finish line a mere second before Taffyta._

_Vanellope blinked, the realization of her actions not sinking in for a few moments. Then she loudly whooped, punching the air in celebration. "Yeah! I won! I HAVE A KART NOW! Me! Woo! Go Vanellope!"_

_Taffyta rolled her eyes at the over exaggerated celebration, even if she could understand why the brand new racer was so exuberant. "Yeah, you won. Now come over here and claim your prize."_

_This stopped Vanellope's mini-party dead in its tracks. "But I thought the kart was the prize." Vanellope stated, looking confused. What else could she possibly need? It wasn't until she saw the glint of gold in Taffyta's hands as she got out of her kart that she understood._

"_You know the rules. Winner gets the gold." Taffyta handed the coin up to to Vanellope. _

_Vanellope took the coin with trepidation. She could almost see herself reflected in it, with Taffyta slightly behind. First and second place. "I… you really think I have a shot?"_

"_As long as you keep glitching like you did in the race, you ought to be fine." Taffyta flicked away the stick just in time, as she was suddenly wrapped inside a pair of teal clothed arms, Vanellope's head right on her shoulder, making her racing jacket wet. _

"_Thank you. _Thank you._" Taffyta awkwardly returned the hug. "It was nothing, just make sure you give it your all when you're racing, alright? And don't go easy on me just because I gave you a kart, alright? I want to work for my gold."_

"_Oh, please. Like you're going to get anything higher than silver while I'm on the track." Vanellope joked, letting go to look at their karts side by side. "So, what's my kart's name?"_

_Taffyta thought for a moment. "Hmm… Beginner's Luck." This earned her both a laugh and a playful punch to the shoulder from Vanellope. Still, she didn't discount the name.-_

_-They two of them bantered and joked until it was nearly opening time, when they parted their ways. Their ploy wasn't discovered until the next night, when Vanellope drove up in Beginner's Luck. But she was snatched by the guards before she was able to deposit her coin, and dragged kicking and screaming away while the king stomped off to the castle grumbling about conniving glitches taking advantage of innocent racers._

_By the next day, all anyone could remember of the event was the glitch showed up with a kart stolen from the Bakery, and Vanellope didn't question it when she saw a kart with pink icing and black licorice rusting away in the junkyard. Considering how good of a condition it was in, she just dismantled it for parts for the Lickety Split. -_

-don't cry Taffyta. You're only supposed to be doing that when I beat you in a race." Vanellope joked. Taffyta wiped at her tears, a smile on her face.

"Y-you know I'm going to beat you next time." Vanellope chuckled. "Please, it's not like you're going to get anything higher than silver while I'm on the track." Vanellope recited, and the two of them shared a secretive smile at the joke only the two of them knew.

"One minute 'til arcade opening!" All the racers stiffened at the call- what were they supposed to do now, with their new leader?

Vanellope looked around to see them scrambling. "Well, what are you chumps waiting for? We have a job to do, let's get going." And with that all the roster racers went running to their karts while those not fortunate to make it quickly drove off.

Rancis sighed; of course he didn't get a scene with Vanellope. And why should he? He was bright enough to figure out that she was making them relive some sort of positive memory, and he just never created any for her. It was as simple as that. He was making his way to the Kit-Kart when he was stopped by a hand wrapping itself on his arm. He turned to face the person, only to find that it was the one person he thought wouldn't want anything to do with him: Vanellope Von Schweetz.

"Your presidency," Rancis bobbed his head in greeting, glad he remembered the title she wanted them to call her. No need to make to make this scene any more awkward than it has to be. "I'm sorry, but I need to get to my kart; I'm in the roster, you see, so-"

He was interrupted by Vanellope pulling her close to her with a hug. Rancis's eyes widened as-

_-he was lying next to her in a field of flowers, saying-_

_-"Are you alright, that had to hurt!" He knelt down beside her, looking at the-_

_-shoddily built handmade kart. He shook his head. "No, no, no. You build it all wrong. See, the accelerator is where the brakes are supposed to be. It's really supposed to be-_

_-there!" He signed his name of the VC1. "Made by Vanellope and Rancis." What do you think,-_

_-Vanellope? Vanellope! What are doing?" He looked on worriedly as she climbed onto the roof of the castle. He couldn't see her face, but at this point he could tell she was rolling her eyes. "Oh, relax, wouldya? King Candy won't-_

_-hurt me, Vanellope. I just need to explain to him how you've been working on controlling your glitching enough so that the players wouldn't notice. Then he'd have to let you race!" Vanellope groaned at her friend's behavior. "Rancis, I swear, sometimes you are an-_

_-idiot!" Vanellope shouted at Rancis, who was currently holding an orange and brown handkerchief to his nose. "Why did you try to help me against the others? Now they're going to be angry at you too!"_

_Rancis removed the handkerchief, the bloody nose mostly gone by now. "Because we're friends and that's what friends do. They-_

_-help me get this over here, Rancis!" Vanellope called out, dragging a giant piece of sponge cake over to the corner where they had already set up a little hut area for her. Rancis winced as he heard a mento fall into the soda, thus causing a small explosion. "Vanellope, are you sure it's safe for you to live here?"_

"_Safer than out in the open where the other racers can get to me. Now c'mon, help me move this over here, buttercup." Grumbling about the name calling, Rancis still walked over and-_

_-helped the strange, teal hoodie wearing girl up "Hello, my name is Rancis Fluggerbutter. And you are?"_

"_Vanellope Von Schweetz." The girl sniffled, trying not to cry. Seeing the scrapes on her face, Rancis didn't blame her._

"_Are you okay?" He asked. "Did you fall down and hit you head?"_

"_No." The girl wiped her face with her sleeve. "Some of the other racers pushed me down and called me a-" suddenly her body broke up into light blue letters, and she reappeared about a millimeter away from where she stood before. Rancis stared at her with wide eyes. "You're a-_

_-glitch." Rancis looked over to where Vanellope was sitting. "Uh… run that by me again?"_

_Vanellope groaned. "I said I almost wish you were a glitch too, so that we can stay together a lot more and you wouldn't have to sneak around and stuff."_

"_Well, that's lovely to hear." Rancis replied, knowing Vanellope too well by now to take her too seriously when she said that. Still, she gave him a punch on the arm for it. "I said almost because then I'd have to put up with you all day, buttercup."_

"_Oh, I'm so hurt, princess." He put a hand over his chest and batted his eyelashes at her. "How could you ever get sick of me?"_

"_It's simple; you do that all the time. Gets just a teensy tiny bit annoying." Rancis rolled his eyes and her and said-_

"Vanellope," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her. She smiled at him. "The rest of your memories are going to come back on their own, same with the other racers. I just needed to give you guys a push. Otherwise, you were all going to wallow in self loathing all the time, which would probably get boring after a while."

She leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek. "I missed you, buttercup." Her grip tightened right before she let go, running off to the strange looking kart she rode in on.

Rancis stood there for a moment, gently touching the spot where she kissed him. It was only the narrator telling players to '_CHEWS THEIR RACER!'_ that got him scrambling back to his kart.

**Yeah, originally I was going to put notes here, but like I said: I've written too many words for this thing already. I'll probably write a little (read: probably the size of _War and Peace_) sequel thing soon, although I have to get a Hero's Cuties story with at least one chapter posted by the 22nd. Until then, goodbye and remember to review, because good lord I worked hard on this thing**


End file.
